By BRIAN DE PALMA, SUSAN LEHMAN (Hard Case Crime; 2020)

This pulpy psycho-thriller is the first novel by film legend Brian De Palma (co-written with girlfriend Susan Lehman). As is the case with many novels written by established filmmakers (such as MIDNIGHT MOVIE by Tobe Hooper, THE SUCKER’S KISS by Alan Parker and MIKE AND GABY’S SPACE GOSPEL by Ken Russell), ARE SNAKES NECESSARY? apparently came into being out of necessity, having begun life as a screenplay, and drafted in the wake of one of its director-author’s least satisfying films (2019’s DOMINO). In an increasingly inhospitable cinematic environment a turn to prose makes perfect sense, and was in this case a good idea.

Neither De Palma nor Lehman have written any fiction before this novel, which is both its major shortcoming and saving grace. This is to say that ARE SNAKES NECESSARY? isn’t always satisfying, with at-times clumsy present tense prose that’s constantly telegraphing the fact that its authors view their story in visual rather than literary terms (in sentences like “the effort required to get the words out is evident” and “The face she sees reflected in the guest-room mirror looks exhausted”), yet the ignorance of proper thriller novel etiquette makes for something unique and interesting.

According to the front cover blurb by Martin Scorsese, this novel is “like having a new De Palma picture.” It actually reads like a De Palma Greatest Hits compilation, with a sprawling multi-character account of sex and murder a la De Palma’s films SISTERS and DRESSED TO KILL, corruption political and otherwise a la BLOW OUT and SNAKE EYES, and a scheming siren a la FEMME FATALE and PASSION.

Inspired by the John Edwards sex scandal, it begins with Barton Brock, a ruthless political campaign manager, hiring the hot blonde Elizabeth to frame a rival, after which he has her arrested and shipped off to Las Vegas. From there we settle into a twisted account that involves Fanny, a hot-to-trot eighteen year old with eyes for Brock’s current employer, the randy senator Lee Rogers; Fanny’s mother Jenny, who once had an affair with Rogers; Rogers’ impeccably poised but insecure wife Connie; the studly Nick, who after an ill-advised tryst with Elizabeth becomes the set photographer on a French remake of VERTIGO; and Elizabeth, who after ditching Nick takes over an advice column in a Boston newspaper (and gives very bad advice!).

It all climaxes in a delirious set-piece situated at the Eiffel Tower that’s vintage De Palma, complete with slow motion (or rather “It all happens in that funny slow-motion way events unfold in the heat of certain moments”) and multiple viewpoints that nearly replicate De Palma’s patented split screen technique. There’s also a nasty murder sequence of the type that made De Palma (in)famous, although here the victim is, for once, a man, marking something of a change for a filmmaker who’s not exactly known for his charity toward the fairer sex.

The narrative is consistently clever and unpredictable, with a couple of surprising twists (one of them quite perverse). It may be a bit over-reliant on coincidence, and a little too neat in its wrap-up, but overall this novel is terrifically nasty, sexy, disreputable fun.